Michael W. Dean

Language: English

Pages: 524

ISBN: 2:00027579

Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub

We’re entering a new era. Mini-DV filmmaking is the new folk, the new punk rock, the new medium where anyone can tell his story. "$30 Film School" is an alternative to spending four years and a hundred thousand dollars to learn the trade. It is influenced by punk rock’s Do-It-Yourself spirit of just learning the basics and then jumping up on a stage and making a point, and by the American work ethic back when it was pure, before it became all about corporations crushing the little guy. Throw in the hacker idea that information wants to be free (or at least very cheap) and you’ve got our deal. Inside you’ll find many interviews from insightful independent filmmakers and artists, as well as a host of practical advice, knowledge, and resources.

had been about me and no one else. One reason people really got behind D.I.Y. or DIE is because it wasn’t about me; it was about community. I couldn’t have strategized a better plan for a first movie…though I didn’t set out to. I ended up getting attention from the star power of the candidates, and also had use of their resources: They linked me on their Web sites, gave me their press contacts, and more. Making a doc (documentary) with lots of people in it was a logistical nightmare, but it

reports and yearly mission statements to make sure you’re really spending the money on the project. Our fiscal sponsor takes 10 percent. It’s best to not go with ones that charge 20 percent, for two reasons. One is that it’s obviously more money. The other is that a lower fee means you are with a sponsor that actually cares about your art. Some sponsors just rubber stamp these things to have a cash flow. Also make sure that you get a sponsor who does not insist in their contract on owning the

and were more trouble than if they’d never contacted me.) Free Help Chapter 3 I end up disappointed and resentful often when I let people help, because no one is as committed to my projects as me. For instance, a guy answered my intern ad and wanted to make a cover for the VHS tapes of my film (I’d released the first thousand copies of D.I.Y. in paper sleeves with no cover). I thought this was a good idea and he came up with a cool cover design, with my text. He said he could even save me

filmmaking can turn any bedroom or garage into a TV and movie studio that has a world broadcast area. Good ideas combined with planning, experience, and care can make stunning films for almost no money that look nearly as good as films costing millions of dollars. The basic technological components of desktop filmmaking are ◆ A mini-DV camera ◆ A mini-DV tape ◆ A FireWire cable ◆ A FireWire card ◆ A computer ◆ An editing program You can get all this combined for under $2,000 and make films that

straight full-time on art at 50 cents an hour. MEOW!~ About the Author Michael Wareham Dean is a scruffy little man who lives in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake district. He was the singer in the rock group Bomb. His first novel, Starving In The Company Of Beautiful Women, was published in 2000. Michael’s first feature-length film was the critically acclaimed D.I.Y. or DIE: How to Survive as an Independent Artist. Of this movie, Dean says, “I wanted to interview my heroes and my unknown buddies, and